abbreviations, 2009
An assortment of abbreviated words, are treated formally as unfinished. 1 1/2”h letters cut from white 1/4” thick white Plexiglas compose each abbreviation, presented in small individual piles, eliminating a linear reading and emphasizing their incompleteness. To accentuate the words as unfinished the adhesive craft paper (left on by the sign company where I have them cut to protect the surface from scratches) is left intact on both sides. The selection of abbreviated words is based on messing up meaning in whimsical ways, encouraging the potential for misinterpretation that is present in our everyday lives; aesthetically, historically, linguistically, socially, formally, semiotically …
For example;
sing. – is short for singular, yet the abbreviated version spells an unrelated word.
etc. – formally abbreviating the word etcetera illustrates the words meaning while the formal presentation of the three dimensional letters in a pile disrupt its legibility.
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